Tag Archives: soft design lab

Join Soft Design Lab for the #LVMKT Red Carpet Tour in cooperation with International Market Centers, JANUARY 27-30, 2018 If you are a qualified designer or buyer and have never been to #LVMKT or have not attended in the past few markets we want you to join us for a complimentary, all-inclusive, 3 night – 4 day, #LVMKT Experience. The tour is available on a first come, first serve basis to qualified and vetted attendees.

We always get the BEST party invites!

Receive the star treatment while enjoying VIP access to major manufacturers tailored to your individual needs. As your design concierge, we will take care of all of the planning, so you can concentrate on the show, buying and having a great time! After all it’s Vegas!

We always have the GREATEST tour guides!

We always visit the most AMAZING showrooms!

We are excited to share an extraordinary lineup of events with you which will include:

A pre-market, informational webinar to get you ready to go

Three (3) nights accommodations; double-occupancy . Super-convenient hotel on the strip and on #LVMKT bus routes. ( We assign roommates *Private rooms are available for an upcharge).

Daily transportation to/ from Market and between showrooms and manufacturers.

Exclusive private welcome reception and dinner.

#LVMKT Experience design destinations and insider access to showrooms

Private VIP showroom tours, meals and entertainment

Daily educational event schedule

Countless social and networking opportunities

VIP welcome package and market survival kit

Concierge market planning service to make the most of market

Our tours are designed to take you from a market newbie to a seasoned pro in a few days. Prior to market we start you off with some great advice and tips for mastering market that we have developed over the hundreds of markets we have attended.

We assist you in finding the right sources and vendors for your business. You will visit our line up of handpicked, designer friendly vendors, for private showroom tours, meals, parties, etc. When you tour showrooms with our group you meet the owners of the companies and have immediate access to opening accounts if you qualify. Doing this on your own as a first-time attendee can be intimidating and sometimes difficult. We try to pave that road for you if possible.

But what we are most proud of is the power of networking with the rest of the group that our tour fosters. Each tour inevitably turns into a micro-incubator of design ideas, business strategies, and client management techniques between our attendees.

We love to share resources and sources with our Soft Design community, so from time to time we’ll choose one and give you more in-depth info on the companies, services and platforms we love. Today we’d like to introduce you to a one-of-a-kind insider resource, the Bienenstock Furniture Library. The Furniture Library exists to further knowledge and preserve the history of furniture, interior design and the decorative arts.

With 5,000+ furniture and design specific volumes, it is the largest furniture specialty library in the world and holds the world’s largest such collection that is open and free to all. The Furniture Library’s rare book room houses 350+ volumes published since 1543, including original works of 18th century furniture masters Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite, and a complete 26-volume set of Diderot Encyclopedia c.1776. This is one of the few places, if not the only, in the world where—by appointment— design professionals, scholars, students, and the public can don a pair of white gloves and examine the original works of the pioneer designers.

The Library’s open stacks—available any time you choose to drop by— include 5000+ texts, catalogs and magazines (such as 100 years of Antiques Magazine issues), covering international design history from ancient Greece until present day. Topics include art, architecture, furniture design, style, history, all significant design periods, wood and wood working, interior design, scaled drawings, window treatments, paint and paint finishes, textiles, clocks, porcelain, glass and much more. [Included in the Library’s collection: Design Directory of Window Treatments, by our own Jackie Von Tobel.]

Simply open a book on the Library’s shelves, and you can find rare drawings, furniture details, historic color swatches, international design specialties—a treasure trove of inspiration, information, and illustration for anyone interested in design. And, though little known outside the industry, the Furniture Library is located right in the heart of High Point Market. In fact, the HP Market Authority itself describes the Library as: “Like No Other Place On Earth, a truly unique resource for working designers.” Read more about what the Market has to say about Furniture Library, here.

Research

As a non-profit organization, the Bienenstock Furniture Library provides most all of it’s services at no charge. The Library’s staff will be happy to answer any of your questions by email, phone, or in person. An Advisory Board of professional interior designers, college professors and design industry members assist in answering questions on selected topics. For instance, the Library can help you determine the style or period design of a piece of furniture.

Scholarship/Design Competition

Each year, a number of interior design and furniture design students are awarded scholarships through the The Bienenstock Furniture and Interior Design Competition. To date, the Library has awarded more than $450,000 in scholarships.

The Bienenstock Interior Design Scholarship is awarded by juried competition in a residential/commercial based project, directed and sponsored in partnership with ASID. Entrants complete a project to a set of provided instructions and commercial specifications. 1st place winner receives $5000, 2nd place $1500, and the 1st place winner’s school receives $1000 for it’s design department. 2017 judges are: Christi Spangle, June Anderson, Bri Verstat, Rose Dotal, Kara Cox, Gwen Emery, Jessica Alpert and Marilyn Russell.

2017 Bienenstock Furniture Library Scholars will be announced in March. Any junior/senior or graduate student majoring in any design related field and attending a United States school or university is eligible to compete in the annual Bienenstock scholarship competition. If you or someone you know is eligible, the Library invites you to enter during the next competition. Details here.

RARE BOOKS Preservation

The Library’s rare books are housed in a climate and humidity controlled environment with monitored usage and white glove only access. The Library is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of it’s rare books in their original format, and has begun a Sponsor-A-Book effort to repair and rebind every volume, as appropriate, through grants and private donations. Rare and important books are awaiting funds for rebinding conservation and preservation.

If you, or an organization of which you are a member, share the passion to preserve design knowledge and artifacts, the Library invites you to sponsor a book.

A PLACE OF RESPITE

While in High Point, and especially amid the 12-hours fast-paced days of High Point Market, the Bienenstock Furniture Library invites you to use the Library’s facilities—and it’s beautifully planted sculpture garden—as a place of rest and respite. You can hop onto a “Go-Anywhere Shuttle” and be delivered to the Library within five minutes.

EVENT FACITILIES

Should you or your organization have a meeting or special event to host during High Point Market, the Library invites you to use its high-tech Hadley Court Center for Design Collaboration, conference rooms, or its beautiful Pat Plaxico Sculpture Gardens sculpture garden and cottage house for alfresco dinners and gatherings.

YOU MIGHT ENJOY A VIDEO TOUR OF THE LIBRARY, here

FOR QUESTIONS + DETAI LS, the Library invites you to contact director Karla Webb at info@furniturelibrary.com, www.furniturelibrary.com, or join the conversation at:

Share this:

You’ve done all the planning, packed your suitcase and you’re off to the show. Now what?

At the show

Arrive early and get your hands on a map and a directory. I map out which showrooms I am going to hit and in what order each day, High Point is a big place and you can waste a lot of time waiting for shuttles if you have to criss-cross market, building to building if you didn’t lay out a plan.

Refer to your schedule periodically throughout the day so that you can stay on track and see all of the vendors you want to. How? Set push notifications on your phone thru the Reminders app or your calendar.

Get to know the shuttle system. There are two types of shuttles- downtown shuttles – the Red line and Green line that run a route and make specific stops. The Go Anywhere van which will take you anywhere within a 3 mile radius of city limits between the hours of 7:30 am and 8:30 pm.

Re-evaluate your list the night before the last day at Market and see if you need to revise your schedule and re-prioritize your day to make sure that you see the vendors you need to before the show ends.

Don’t just grab every brochure that’s offered to you. Collect the information that is of interest to you or that could be valuable to others in your company. Ask for catalogs to be mailed to you or if they are available digitally.

Divide and conquer if you are bringing employees. Take advantage of show specials, discounts and sales. Check freight costs and delivery dates.

No matter how tired you are, attend a few seminars. Check out the educational event schedule on Market website. There are always great and compelling topics being discussed. Target industry leaders and contacts you want to meet. Spend some time each day circulating and schmoozing.

you are planning to purchase any custom merchandise, bring your artwork and other files on a flash drive. Most vendors are equipped with laptops and can quickly send the data to the appropriate department.

Keep track of orders placed so you’ll stay within your budget.

3. After the Show

After the show is over, be sure to keep in touch with your contacts, send out LinkedIn invitations and follow through with your new connections. All of your efforts are wasted if you don’t. (I recommend waiting a week or so, both parties can catch up.)

Finally, the most important thing you can do is to show up. Just being at Market is the most important thing. Don’t underestimate the power of being there.

Thinking about coming to Market, but think it’s too late to get a room or a flight? Don’t have the time to do all the planning? Join our VIP #HPMKT Experience tour April 15-20, 2016. Spend the week with market experts, Deb Barrett and Jackie Von Tobel- that’s us. We take care of all of the planning and logistics, so you can concentrate on the show and having a great time. We’ll guide you through the ins and outs, and sometimes overwhelming High Point Market. It’s a must- do to increase your revenue, maximize your product mix and build your brand.